A Man Out of Time
by jamescoco
Summary: Whilst at the Smithsonian exhibit for Captain America, Steve Rogers meets a fan of his who treats him as a human and not a super solider. (SPOILER-ISH FOR CAP 2)


Steve looked around the exhibit dedicated to him and specifically, his role throughout the war. He had to admit, he was taken aback by it all, his whole life laid out for all to see. Strangely, though, he didn't feel exposed. More intrigued than anything, and he found himself with a smile on his face as he watched children running around with shields, t-shirts and masks. Steve tried to make himself not look so out of the ordinary, he wanted to be another face in the crowd. He walked slowly like the many around him, who wanted to learn more about Captain America.

He stopped as he looked at the information on his life. Reading it, studying what they got right or wrong. He didn't notice the people that were next to him, barely managing to register someone nudging his side gently.

"Are you interested in Captain America too?" A feminie voice spoke, curiosity laced with every word. Steve turned to see a woman, who only seemed to be a few years younger than him. Of course, he knew better, but it was hardly the time to think about those sorts of things. He coughed, caught off guard by the question.

"Uh- yeah you could say that" he chuckled awkwardly.

"Sorry, I've just noticed you a lot in here, and I've just noticed you were looking at everything in here so intently…" she trailed off and looked around. "I'm a- I'm Armina" she held her hand out hoping that Steve would shake it.

"I'm…" he paused and quickly replied hoping she wouldn't think that it was unusual to 'forget' your name "…Alexander" he finished as she shook her hand.

"Double A's nice." She paused and looked at the information the two were in front of "I really like him, Captain America. I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't big fans of him, but I mean he's doing some sort of good isn't he?" She asked Steve. She either didn't see through his flimsy disguise, or she didn't have the heart to tell him.

"I think so."

"I know some…" she paused trying to find the right words "…conspiracy theorists, I guess, and they think that he's _too_ patriotic you know? I beg to differ. I think he's perfect just the way he is," the two of them walked together. Steve couldn't figure out this woman, much less why she came up to a complete stranger.

"What do you mean too patriotic?"

"Oh uh, let's see… he seems to be covering everything up for the government, he knows all the top secrets, things like that you know?" She turned back to look at her new 'friend'. They paused to look at a few other mementos from times long past. One of them was his old outfit.

"They really believe that?" He asked, looking to his right. Armina was much shorter than he was, at least nowadays, but she had a commanding sort of presence and he was sure she could bring him down to her level if she needed to.

"Sadly, yeah. I guess some people always think the worst, you know? It's kind of sad, really," She gave Steve a half-hearted smile as she studied the outfits that he and his friends had once worn. Steve couldn't help but smile looking at them, remembering his comrades and how they had helped him, how they had believed in him.

Moments passed and they moved on, becoming one with the crowd.

"I have a love for World War two, so looking at all of this stuff makes me happy and a little bit surprised that they were able to save a lot of this stuff"

"I'm surprised too" he said more to himself then Armina. He was happy to see all of his clothes and his shield up on display so it could be used to educate the public.

"I mean. What happened in World War Two was horrible, what Hitler did and what Red Skull was trying to do, it was horrible. But I love history, so it's really interesting to me" Steve nodded and Armina looked down at her shoes, not knowing what else to say.

"You ready to move on?" He asked looking at her, she looked up at Steve and nodded. The two walked off again looking at more displays and articles of Steve's life. There was a small theatre in one section where they were playing a short five minute film of Steve's time in the army. Steve couldn't help but feel strange watching it, it was almost as if he was watching an entirely different person on the screen. And maybe he was. The 1940s was history, Captain America was history - or at least, that Captain America was. The short began to replay again so the two left.

Coming out of the theatre they came to one of the last few objects. One of them was information about his old friend Bucky Barnes. Steve was staring at it intently.

"So you're really interested in Captain America's past, as well as his mate Bucky Barnes." She gave a laugh, Steve straightened up and his gaze flickered to Armina.

"No-uh, well yeah you could say that. No he looks like an old friend of mine. Had to remind myself it wasn't him!" Steve gave her a nervous laugh.

"It's alright. He looks a bit like my friend James funnily enough. Between you and me, Bucky is a bit of a looker. But I mean the majority of the guys back then were pretty attractive, better than the ones we have now" she said with a little smile and he nodded.

"A lot of them seem to not have the uh… etiquette that we… they used to," Steve hoped she didn't notice the slip up. He'd gotten this far, and it was almost over.

"Sometimes we get a rare face" she said with a smile. "Though I do feel sorry about what happened to that guy, Bucky. I'd be pretty beat up if I lost my best friend. Cap's strong, stronger than I would be, you know? I wonder how he's dealing with the twenty first century, though. We don't have flying cars… yet, at least. Stark never did get those to work, apparently," she said winking at Steve. The two paused, looking at the image in front of them before they continued on. They got to the end of the hall and out of the exhibit standing in the sun. Armina looked up and squinted her eyes, bringing her hand over her forehead so she can shield her eyes from the sun.

"I have to say that was pretty awesome" Steve said with a smile.

"Yeah…" she trailed off. Feeling a buzz on her side, she felt her phone and picked it up out of her pocket. Steve was most curious about these objects. Tony had tried to get him to use one, but they were a bit too fancy for his liking and he couldn't grasp it properly yet. "Got a text from a friend, I came here with her and I guess I got a bit lost."

"Tell her it was my fault that I stole her friend"

"Oh no no, it was totally my fault. I walked off by myself. I stole you remember!"

"Well yeah, you did I guess, but she doesn't need to know that." It was silent between the two of them again, Armina looked at her feet fumbling with the phone in her hand. "I want to ask you something. What's your accent? It sounds British…"

"It's actually Australian. I'm Australian. I moved to New York about two or so years ago. I think it was a week before the whole battle in New York happened with The Avengers." Steve was shocked.

"I'm so sorry to hear about that! I hope your home was undamaged!" He said stepping towards her so they weren't blocking up the exit.

"It got pretty badly hit, but its fine now. Insurance is great," she chuckles. "Well I should be going now. The friend would be having a panic attack right now… oh speak of the devil, I've got a call."

"Oh yeah you should definitely go! I might see you around, Armina." Steve said holding his hand out for her to shake it. She took his hand and shook it with a smile.

"I'll see you around Steve. Knock 'em dead" she said with a wave goodbye as she held her phone to her ear, the last he could hear from her was "_sorry I didn't message you! I was hanging out with a friend at the Captain America exhibit, it was pretty rad. Yes I have other friends!_" Steve stood there, bewildered. She'd seen straight through him, and hadn't said a word. Maybe she didn't know how to bring it up, or maybe she just thought it would be nice for him to spend time with someone who saw him as Steve Rogers, as just a kid from Brooklyn – and not a superhero. Either way, he found himself with a smile on his face and he made a mental note to try and find her again someday.


End file.
